Sustainability
Safety and Wellness
Categories
EMPLOYEE SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT
Quanex employees are our most important asset, and we strive to ensure that our workers return home safely every day. Our “What is your Why?” philosophy is at the core of our safety program. Our safety programs emphasize and reinforce our employees’ motivation to stay safe and keep each other safe.
Communication
We believe that safety incidents can be prevented through proper risk management, employee involvement, behavioral observations, standardized operations and equipment, and attention to detail.
Safety programs and training are provided across Quanex to ensure that employees and managers have effective tools to help identify and eliminate both unsafe conditions and at-risk behaviors. Our safety program is overseen by our Board of Directors and our Executive Strategy Council, with support from a dedicated Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Department whose leader reports directly to our CEO. In addition, employee-led health and safety teams help identify, analyze, and communicate safety issues within each facility.
Quanex hosts monthly meetings that include the CEO, CHRO, and General Counsel along with various HR and EHS team members in addition to plant management at every facility. During these meetings, the group discusses every recordable injury that occurred during the preceding month. The meetings start with senior leadership’s recognition and acknowledgment of plants with great safety records and achievements and end with comments from the CEO. Our two North American segments each have periodic division-wide safety calls to discuss preventive safety measures. In addition, the Quanex Custom Components (QCC) segment biweekly safety meeting shares plant safety improvements so that similar actions can be considered at other QCC plants.
Accident and Injury Prevention
We continually strive to improve and protect the health and safety of our employees. Our root cause analysis process reveals that many injuries are related to ergonomics or other body alignment issues. The nature of the manufacturing process often requires repetitive motion; however, proper form and stretching exercises can reduce or minimize the aches and pains associated with repetitive motion. We’ve implemented a program at every location to provide on-site physical therapists (PT) or exercise physiologists. Employees can see these health professionals for both work and non-work-related issues. Onsite PT consultation removes the need for employees to schedule separate appointments outside the work hours. The onsite PTs take the time to walk the floor to better understand our practices and meet our employees so that they can make recommendations for ergonomic or process improvements.
The EHS staff have received professional training in Ergonomics and they routinely conduct ergonomic evaluations to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injuries. Quanex is now using an AI Ergonomics software program, allowing plant users the ability to perform quick and intuitive job task analyses. The software analyzes a short video clip of a workplace task to provide nearly instantaneous results, allowing our teams to assess ergonomic stressors and identify alternative work methods. Automated machinery has been installed in nine locations that manufacture window screens; this machinery alleviates the ergonomic stress created by the hand rolling method of manufacturing screens. We continue to evaluate the benefits of automation to reduce ergonomic risks and find new opportunities for automated equipment.
Management of Change
When it comes to safety, change – whether with process, equipment, or procedure – always poses a risk. At Quanex, we work to minimize change-related risks through a robust Management of Change (MOC) Policy. We initiated our MOC process nearly a decade ago and have continually improved it through the years. Our Management of Change Policy requires that all changes are reviewed and approved by appropriate departments, including Plant Management; Research & Development, Engineering, and Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS). All change requests are tracked by the EHS Team, and the MOC process must be completed before the initiation of any substantial change.
TRIR and DART
Over the past nine years, our Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) has decreased from 4.5 to 1.6 and Days Away Restricted or Transferred (DART) has decreased from 1.9 to 0.9. We have continued to achieve superior employee safety performance as benchmarked against the U.S. Department of Labor’s Injury and Illness Incidence rate (IIR). Quanex’s 2022 fiscal year worldwide employee IIR of 1.6 (which included no occupational fatalities) compares favorably against the current U.S. non-governmental, private manufacturing sector (NAICS codes 31-33) employer average IIR of 3.3 published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for calendar year 2021. IIR is calculated the same as TRIR [(number of illness and injuries X 200,000)/total hours worked].
Celebrating a Major Safety Milestone in Parkersburg
In 2022, the Parkersburg, West Virginia team celebrated nine years without a lost time accident. This major milestone is a testament to the team’s commitment to keeping one another safe.
A lost time accident is defined as a workplace injury that requires the associate, based on doctor’s orders, to spend one or more days away from work beyond the date of the injury. Daniel Welch, vice president of operations, notes that achieving such a milestone is a truly monumental achievement.
“The fact that nearly a decade has gone by without this type of injury is incredible,” Daniel said. “No matter the type of plant you are or the type of work you do, this is a very difficult milestone to achieve. One year without a lost time incident is impressive. Nine of them is outstanding. It means you’re doing a lot of things right as a team.”
The Plant Manager attributes this success entirely to the associates on the plant floor, and the work they have put in to build a true safety culture in Parkersburg. “Reaching this point has truly been a journey, and it’s one that has been driven at every point by our associates,” Karen said. “Everyone here supports and is actively engaged in this culture of safety, and the results speak for themselves. Everyone is looking out for each other every day. Management can’t just dictate safety — we can lead, but it’s the associates who have to do it. And this team has done an incredible job.”
Employee WELLNESS
Support for a Healthier Lifestyle
Two of our largest facilities have onsite fitness centers, while all of our facilities are tobacco free. Most facilities offer an annual benefits fair, where employees can learn about health and wellness, and participate in biometric screenings. Free annual flu shots are offered to all employees, with most of our plants hosting onsite flu shots.
The Quanex Wellness Committee is working on several initiatives centered around promoting the benefits of our Go365 wellness program, smoking cessation activities and Mental Health awareness. Wellness materials are highlighted in the Monthly Quanex Health, Safety, and Wellness Bulletin. Copies of the bulletins are shared via employee email, posted in break rooms, and broadcast on the Quanex video monitors throughout each plant. The Committee has also promoted the expansion of healthy eating opportunities by providing facilities with details on employee incentive programs like farmers’ markets and incentives for healthy food choices in employee break rooms.
Our Go365 wellness program helps incentivize our employees to take a greater stake in their health by giving them the tools and support they need to live healthier lives and rewarding them for it.
Go365 goes beyond traditional workplace wellness programs by offering resources for employees dealing with everyday stressors like financial, family, and emotional concerns. Quanex offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), a free and confidential service that provides useful tools and resources to address topics such as resiliency, emotional well-being, workplace success, wellness and balance, and personal and family goals. The EAP also provides access to legal and financial consultation and work-life services. The EAP has been especially helpful over the past three years as our employees have worked to deal with the added stress and uncertainty growing out of COVID-19. Quanex is committed to our employees’ overall health and wellness, and we offer a comprehensive benefits package and initiatives to promote healthy lifestyles.